


Goodbye, Stranger.

by randomdestielfangirl



Series: Season 12 coda fics [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Coda, Episode: s12e04 American Nightmare, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Implied Castiel/Dean Winchester, M/M, POV Outsider, Season/Series 12, Unrequited Beth/Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 00:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8469145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomdestielfangirl/pseuds/randomdestielfangirl
Summary: She’s about to ask him if he has time for a coffee before he leaves when his phone rings. Ray’s eyes widen slightly as he sees the name and excuses himself rather brusquely. Beth sighs. She has another mountain of paperwork to go through, now with the Peterson case and she’s received a pretty obvious no, but she finds herself following him as he walks towards the Petersons’ barn.
“Cas?” his voice is rough and filled with an emotion she can’t even begin to place.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't catch what aliases Dean and Sam used as agents, so I'm assuming the same names they used for their fake social worker aliases. 
> 
> Dean=Ray  
> Sam=James
> 
> Un-beta'd.

Beth would be lying if she doesn’t find the two agents assigned to the Olivia Sanchez case attractive. James Morrison and Ray Manzarek. Devastatingly handsome in fact and no wedding rings on either of them. She knows they were only in town for the case, but she really doesn’t mind hooking up with one of them for a couple of drinks and a hot night or two. James’s manner shows nothing beyond professional courtesy to her, so she rules him out. Ray is confusing. He seems curious about her candle, but it doesn’t lead to any casual conversation. Maybe he doesn’t want to chat in front of his partner.

She talks about it to her sister Jenny while she’s grabbing dinner before heading back to work.

“Wow your life is really sad if you’re calling me about some hot agent casually asking about your candle.” Jenny says. “You need to get out more.”

“Ugh, never mind. I shouldn’t have bothered.” Beth says and hangs up, her sister snorting in the background.

Jenny is right. She does tend to spend a lot of time in the office and ever since Olivia’s death, her workload has increased exponentially. By the time the weekend rolls in, she wants nothing more than to sit in her sweats and pig out. Her friends keep inviting her for a girl’s night-out, but just the thought of going out and making small talk nauseates her.

She sighs as the clock ticks nine, rubbing at the crick in her neck. She has a solid hour or two’s worth of paperwork to go through and her eyes are drooping. She’s just about to call it a day when Ray’s rough voice surprises her.

Gosh his eyes are hypnotizing. Beth never talks so openly about her work, about the bitterness it sometimes causes. But Ray invites confidence, his intense green eyes piercing her soul, making her quite unable to lie. When she asks him why he came though, all the smoothness and self-confidence falls away. He stammers out a request for the frequency of Olivia’s visits to the Petersons, which she’s positive he can find out if he bothered to read the stack of files she had given them in the morning.

Nonetheless, Beth smiles at him a little impishly and beckons him over to the table as she looks up the register. She’s _technically_ not supposed to do this, but they are federal agents with temporary access to anything connected to Olivia, so it will do. Ray approaches her and stands behind her chair, but doesn’t take the opportunity to bend over her. Still, his presence is intoxicating, smelling faintly of leather and gun oil, of coffee and musk. Beth finds herself shivering slightly as she looks at the dates, the words not registering.

“Not that often then.” he says unexpectedly in a low voice, and Beth jumps a little in her seat. She turns around to see his gaze fixed on the screen. His lips are plump and soft, and the light from the monitor makes his eyes gleam.

“No.” she stammers out, her breathing speeding up.

He turns away from the screen and meets her eyes, his gaze penetrating. Beth can feel her heart race as she grips tightly at the desk.

_Is he going to kiss me?_

“Why do you do it?” he asks her.

Beth blinks, unable to process what just happened. Ray’s eyes are calm, a touch of curiosity in them.

“Do what?”

“This job. You say you hate it. That no one wants it. Then why?”

Beth lets out a deep breath. She’s been asked this question so many times, but something about Ray feels different. It’s like he really wants to know why.

“Someone has to do it.” she says finally. “I had a wonderful childhood. My parents are loving and supportive. I have an incredibly loving sister. It’s not fair that so many kids don’t have that, for no fault of their own.”

Ray watches her, but Beth manages to meet his intense gaze and hold her own.

“I’ve seen parents starve kids, leave them unattended, beat them, yell at them and still presume they are doing their best. I’ve seen kids who go to school starving, in ill fitting shoes, grime under their nails and lice in their hair. I’ve seen babies left in their diapers for days, drinking out of moldy bottles and surrounded by needles. And I do my best to get them out. Yeah I tend to get brickbats more than bouquets.” she continues, raising her chin a little defiantly. “But for the kids whose lives I potentially save? I’d do it all over again.”

There’s a pause. Then Ray’s the one to look away, closing his eyes. Beth looks at him in some concern— she didn’t think he was that sensitive. But before she can say anything he’s crossed the room in quick strides, only pausing at the door to thank her and wish her goodnight.

She stares after him for about fifteen minutes, before giving up on working and going home.

+

She’s half asleep with the call comes through about the mass murder at the Petersons. Her colleague has to repeat herself twice before Beth gets that their daughter was found alive, beaten almost to death by her own parents. She races there, dressed in mismatched clothes, hardly able to believe it. Magda is shivering when she gets there and her small hunched figure makes Beth want to cry. She talks to her and soothes her as best as she can as the police take Gail Peterson away.

Ray and James look exhausted when they come up to talk to Magda. James looks especially distressed, his wrists red and raw from being tied up. The case is closed and they’ll leave any minute, and it’s probably for the best, but Beth can’t walk away without even trying. Ray looks vaguely surprised when she pulls him aside and accepts her number quite politely, but Beth can see that he’s not going to call. Swallowing her disappointment, she thanks him for his help. He nods, but doesn’t smile back or meet her eyes.

She’s about to ask him if he has time for a coffee before he leaves when his phone rings. Ray’s eyes widen slightly as he sees the name and excuses himself rather brusquely. Beth sighs. She has another mountain of paperwork to go through, now with the Peterson case and she’s received a pretty obvious no, but she finds herself following him as he walks towards the Petersons’ barn.

“Cas?” his voice is rough and filled with an emotion she can’t even begin to place.

A man, judging by the depth of the voice she can hear, answers. Ray closes his eyes, his expression pained and relived at the same time.

“Yeah we’re done here. Crazy bitch was locking up her own kid. Sam took care of it.”

_Sam?_

Ray rubs his hand over his eyes as the other man speaks again.

“I fucked up, Cas. Big time. I knew there was something up with them, I just... I was so damned stupid. Sam almost died. One of the kids died. If I was there—”

He’s cut off by the other man speaking something rapidly into the phone. Ray listens quietly, but there are tears in his eyes.

“Cas. I’m just— I’m worried about you, about mom, those crazy British sons-of-bitches and I’m just— making rookie mistakes. People died because of me.”

She should walk away. But she can’t.

Ray breathes in deeply as the other man responds, dabbing at his eyes furiously. It seems to be quite a monologue as Ray just listens, leaning against a bale of hay.

“I hear you, Cas.” Ray sighs. “I— I just miss you. Just promise me that you’ll call me... the moment you need me? Because I will be there in a heartbeat.”

He smiles gently at the reply, just a flash of teeth.

“I love you too, Cas. Stay safe.”

He hangs up, smiling down at the phone. Beth forces herself to move before he sees her, blinking back unexpected tears. She’s not the sentimental sort. She’s not weak. And yet...

But now is not the time to dissect this. Beth squares her shoulders as she returns to the ambulance.

Magda smiles at her warmly as she approaches and Beth smiles back at her. Magda is safe and going to a good home. For now, that is enough.    

 

 

 

  


End file.
